Child Support Laws Tougher

Absent parents attempting to evade child support orders are the targets of a rigorous enforcement network mandated by Congress and just now creaking into place across the nation.

Millions of children and the custodial parents they live with - as well as all taxpayers - will be the winners if the system with the toughest teeth yet puts the bite on more parental scofflaws.

Paychecks, bank accounts and other assets may be tapped under law reforms passed by Congress in 1984. Implementation began in October and the system is expected to be fully operational by 1987 from coast to coast.

The tab due in 1983 from court-ordered support payments was $10.1 billion, the Commerce Department`s Census Bureau reports. Just $7.1 billion of that was paid - making a $3 billion-plus shortfall.

Those figures may be just the tip of the iceberg. A study cited in a recent bulletin from Parents Without Partners Inc. in Bethesda, Md., says in a perfect world, child support payments in the United States would total $26.6 billion a year.

That is because many who seek support for children abandoned by one parent cannot apply for an order for a number of reasons. Or they don`t bother, thinking it is hopeless. The absent parent moves around, puts assets in another person`s name or is self-employed so there`s no paycheck to attach.

A glimpse of the misery resulting from unpaid child support is in letters on file at the Children`s Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Mothers write:

``I have been trying to get support for my son since last April. My ex- husband is employed in Illinois. My lawyer says I must wait until the Illinois Court approves it or go before the court. I have to work two jobs to survive.`` - Dover, Del.

``Working with caseworkers I get the feeling that they are too busy; since I don`t know all the laws and procedures to take action, who am I to say the caseworkers are not doing all they can do or that I am getting the runaround.`` - Palmyra, Pa.

``I have been trying to get back support from my ex-husband for about three or four years. My ex-husband is about $18,000 in arrears and nothing is done. I`m sure you must know the bitterness I feel.`` - Spring City, Pa.

``Death would have been so much easier. The trauma of heartbreak and feeling of abandonment are overwhelming.`` - Waterville, Maine

The Child Support Enforcement program that operates in all the states and attempts to collect from the deadbeat parents is a joint federal-state-local program established as Title IV-D of the Social Security Act in 1975.

The federal legislation required states to set up Child Support Enforcement offices. Uncle Sam picked up 70 percent of the cost and the states and municipalities paid the rest.

The main targets were non-custodial parents skipping out on support of children on welfare although some non-welfare custodial parents were helped for small fees that varied from state to state.

The states with the best records at collecting were those playing hardball - tapping paychecks or income tax refunds or placing liens.

Despite the hodgepodge of methods, collections from deadbeat parents rose steadily each year from $512 million in 1976 to $2.7 billion in 1985, according to the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The cost: about $1 for every $3 brought in.

Policy planners determined that to catch up with more scofflaw parents, especially those hiding out in other states, a uniform nationwide system was needed - with more muscle and a network with fewer broken links.

Incorporating strategies found to be workable, the new federal law requires all the states to pass matching legislation. When this happens, for the first time, there will be a common legal language in child support enforcement across state lines.

New is the requirement that all the states provide equal services for non- welfare families for a modest fee, usually $25, determined by the individual state. Federal incentive payments, from 6 to 10 percent, formerly paid the states for welfare cases only, now also will be provided for non- welfare collections.

The new federal mandate to all the states will also:

Provide automatic withholding of overdue child support payments from paychecks or non-wage income equal to one month`s obligation. Advance notice must be provided to the absent parent. May include a fee to cover the employer`s cost of withholding.

Extend paternity statutes of limitations to the child`s 18th birthday.

Set up expedited legal processes for hearings and deciding support cases.

Collect overdue support from state income tax refunds when other means fail. (Federal tax refunds may be tapped also.)

Establish procedures for the imposition of liens against real and personal property for overdue support.

Require security, bond or other guarantees from parents with a pattern of overdue support.

Upon request from a credit bureau and after notifying absent parent, report overdue amounts over $1,000.